Apparatus for cutting open thread loops on textile fabrics



Aug. 28, 1962 E. MARSCHIK 3,050,314

APPARATUS FOR CUTTING OPEN THREAD LOOPS 0N TEXTILE FABRICS Filed Sept. 30, 1959 3 SheetsSheet l E DUAR D MARSCHJK lnve nfor e? Agen'l" E. MARSCHIK Aug. 28, 1962 APPARATUS FOR CUTTING OPEN THREAD LOOPS ON TEXTILE FABRICS Filed Sept. 30, 1959 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 EDUARD MARSCHIK lnvenior E. MARSCHIK Aug. 28, 1962 APPARATUS FOR CUTTING OPEN THREAD LOOPS 0N TEXTILE FABRICS Filed Sept. 30, 1959 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Mb fi M w w.

a. MW pa 7 n MN n Y m /8 41 4! EDUARD MARSCHIK lnven+or I BY W Agen+ United States Patent M 3,050,814 APPARATUS FER CUTTING OPEN THREAD LOOPS 6N TEXT-i E FABRICS Eduard Marschilr, Poststrasse 18, Sanlrt Galien. Switzerland Fiied Sept. 30, 1959, Ser. No. 843,425 6 Claims. (Ci. 26-11) The conventional jump-stitch ripping rollers on floatcutting machines for embroidered goods are, in particular with handkerchief goods, not able to grip the jump stitches running longitudinally of/or at acute angles to the direction of passage of the fabric web, thus making it necessary to openeach one of these jump-stitches by hand.

The method of cutting all the occurring jump-stitches according to the present invention differs radically from conventional mechanical methods of opening by means of ripping rollers arranged rigidly, horizontally and transversely to the direction of passage of the fabric web inasmuch as it aims at eliminating the former shortcomings by cutting the threads of the jump-stitches by a plurality of gripping and cutting elements rotating in circles parallel to the fabric web.

With this method of operation a mode of operation similar to that of a cup-type cutter is achieved in that on passing the fabric web through the apparatus all points thereof are reached by the cutting elements and all jumpstitches irrespective of the direction in which they run are gripped.

Advantageously, the apparatus can be fitted to an existing shearing machine as a front structure so as to permit the severed jump-stitches to be sheared 01f subsequently in the same passage of the fabric web.

The invention more specifically provides an apparatus comprising at least one operating member, rotating about an axis arranged at right angles to the fabric web, in which gripping and cutting elements projecting from the surface and contacting the fabric web are arranged.

By way of example, two embodiments of the invention are shown in the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a top view of the apparatus with the hood removed;

FIG. 2 is a side view of the apparatus in its operating position;

FIG. 3 is'a partial side view of the apparatus in its inoperative position;

FIG. 4 is a partial front view of the apparatus of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 shows an operating member viewed from the side contacting the fabric web;

FIG. 6 is an axial cross-section through the operating member on the line VI-VI of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a cross-section of the operating member on' the line VHVII of FIG. 5;

FIG. 8 is a partial top view of the rotating disk of the operating member;

FIG. 9, showing a second embodiment, is a side view of a manually operable apparatus shown partly in vertical section;

FIG. 10 shows the manual apparatus of FIG. 9 viewed from the bottom;

FIG. 11 is an enlarged member thereof; and

FIG. 12 is a partial cross-section on the line XlIXII of FIG. 11.

The apparatus according to FIGS. 1 to 8 has a carrier 1 formed of. a rectangular plate which is pivotally mounted, transversely to the direction of passage of the fabric web 2, on a pin 3 of a carriage 6 movable by means of rollers 4 on rails 5. An arm 7 secured to the left-hand portion of the supporting pin 3 (FIGS. 1 and partial top view of the operating gripping and cutting elements 25 lying opposite roller 38 3,050,814 Patented Aug. 28, 1962 2) is engaged by one of the ends of a spring-loaded strut 8 which is pivoted at its other end on a pin 9 of the carriage 6. On tilting the carrier 1 about the pin 3, a dead-center position of the strut 8 and the arm 7 is passed against the spring force. In the operating POSI- tion, the carrier 1 rests by means of a laterally projecting pin it on a support 11 of the carriage 6 and is locked in its operating position by the spring-loaded strut 8 acting on the pin 3 in a clockwise direction of rotation (FIG. 2) after passing the spring dead-center position. On the other hand, the carrier 1 is forced into the upwardly inclined position by the strut 8 after passing the deadcenter position in a counterclockwise direction of rotation, as is shown in FIG. 3. The fabric web 2 coming from the stack is fed via the guide rolls 12, 13 as well as the two lifting rolls 15, 14 along the apparatus and via a further guide roll 16 to the shearing machine not shown in the drawing. When not in use, the apparatus is moved away from the shearing machine by means of the carriage 6. The numeral 17 indicates a fabric-web guide and temple for regulating the lateral tension of the fabric web. While the guide roll 14 is stationary, the roll 15 is guided in the carriage 6 by arms 18 which are held in sliding guides 19 and are pivotally joined with the carrier 1 by arms 20 mounted thereon. Thus the fabric web 2 is forced downwards, i.e. away from the carrier 1, by the roll 15 at the same time as the carrier 1 is tilted upwards whereby checking and cleaning of the apparatus is facilitated. The apparatus can be lifted off the fabric web by pin 10 by hand or by the support 11 with the aid of a pedal 21 acting on the latter.

On the carrier 1 there are rotatably mounted a multiplicity of operating members 22 arranged in two rows on the underside of the carrier 1 by means of spindles 23 disposed at right angles to the carrier 1 and running in ball bearings 24-. The operating members of the rear row are offset from the operating members of the front row and thus overlie the interstices between the latter members. In this way all the transverse zones of the fabric web passing through the apparatus are uniformly swept by the operating members 22. Each member 22 consists of a disk 26 provided with gripping and cutting elements 25, disk 26 being secured to a prismatic extension 27 of the spindle 23 by means of a plate screw 28. The disks 26 are driven by pulleys 29 keyed to the spindles 23 on the top side of the carrier 1, by means of a belt 30 passing over guide pulleys 32, 33, from an electric motor 31. The driving belt is passed around the pulleys 29 in serpentine-like manner so that any two adjacent members 22 are driven in opposite directions. A detachable protective hood 34 is fitted over the driving side of the carrier 1.

The gripping and cutting elements 25 are uniformly spaced in the disk 26 at a certain distance from the axis of the spindle 23. For the reception of the gripping and cutting elements 25, the disk 26 is provided with oblong apertures 35 oriented in their rotational circles, the gripping and cutting elements 25 being mounted pivotally in the apertures 35 on pins 36. As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, these gripping and cutting elements each carry at the rear a roller 38 mounted on a pin 37, the rollers 38 traveling along a cam track 39 serving to control the gripping and cutting elements. The cam track 39 is formed as a ring, one half thereof having a lower track section 39a and the other half having a higher track section 3912, these two track sections being connected with each other by rising and falling transition surfaces 390; The numeral 39 indicates a protective skirt secured to the track 39 and extending downwardly to the circumferential edge of the disk 26. The front portion of the with regard to the pivoting pin 36 is bifurcated and 3 carries a knife 49 between its prongs, the cutting edge of knife 40 being arranged at an inclination to the disk 26. While one prong 25a. is designed as a gripper foot for gripping the jump stitches, the other prong 25b serves as a stop for limiting the swing motion of the gripping and cutting element 25 in its operating position as can be seen in FIGJ'I at the left. The gripping and cutting elements are under the influence of tension springs 41 engaging the roller pins 37, these springs urging the gripping and cutting elements 25 into their operating position as soon as their rollers 38 come into the range of the lower half 39a of the cam track. Pivotirig the grip ping and cutting elements 25 into their inoperative position withdrawn into the disk 26 (FIG. 7 at the right) is positively effected against the action of the tension springs 41 by the rollers 38 running onto the higher half of the cam track 39b. By a displacement of the gripping and cutting elements 25 into a withdrawn inoperative position during one half of their rotation and into an operating position during the other half thereof, by appropriately positioning the cam track 39, the eifect is obtained that the gripping and cutting elements 25 operate outwardly from the longitudinal median line of the fabric web 2 to either side, i.e. towards the selvages. to insure maintenance of the width of the fabric web and to prevent entanglement of the gripper feet 25a in the fabric web. With narrower fabric webs, in addition, care can be taken that the gripper feet 25a do not engage the selvage. Owing to the mode of operation whereby the feet 25a are oriented from the median line of the fabric web outwardly towards the selvages, gripping of the underside of the selvage from the outside inwardly is positively avoided. In FIGS. 1 and 5, the semi-circular operating paths of the gripping and cutting elements 25 from the center line of the fabricweb outwardly are indicated by arrows 42 drawn into the operating members22.

The gripping and cutting elements 25 of the members 22 sweep the passing fabric web 2 in semi-circular operating paths adjacent to each other, the members 22 executing 600 revolutions per minute, while the advance of the fabric web does not exceed about 50 cm. per second. Thus all points of the passing fabric web are swept in different directions by the gripping and cutting elements 25 in their operating position so thatv all the jump-stitches extending in all directions are sure to be severed during passage of the fabric web.

The manually operable apparatus according to FIGS. 9 to 12'has a housing body comprising a flat gear casing 1' and a motor casing 2 fitted on top thereof. A drive shaft 4' running in ball bearings 5, 6' is mounted in the gear casing 1' as is a bearing pan 3, the gear casing together with the bearing pan enclosing a gear chamber. The shaft 4 carries an operating member consisting of a disk 7' and several gripping and cutting elements 8' mounted in the disk 7 The disk 7' is detachably fitted on a projecting square 4a of the operating shaft 4' by means of a central square hole and held in position by a screw 9' which is screwed into the facing end of the shaft 4' and sunk into the disk 7'. In addition, a gear 10' is secured to the drive shaft 4' between the casing 1' and the bearing pan 3', this gear '10 meshing with a gear rim 12a of a double-rimmed gear 12' mounted on a stationary auxiliary shaft 11' secured in the casing, the second gear rim 12b of double-rimmed gear 12' meshing with the toothed shaft end 13' of an electric motor 14'. Between the depending edge 1a of the gear casing 1' and the disk 7' there is mounted for vertical displacement a supporting ring 15. The supporting ring 15 is guided in its vertical movement within the depending edge 1a, this movement being limited by vertical slots 16 which are provided in the supporting ring and engaged by guiding pins 17' secured to the casing edge 1a. The supporting ring is urged into its lower end position by compression springs 19' mounted on pins This tends 4 18 of ring 15. In this end position, the supporting ring 15' projects beyond the gripper feet 8a of the gripping and cutting elements 8' so that the latter do not touch the support on which the apparatus is placed. By light pressure on the apparatus guided with one hand by means of the handle 21?, the supporting ring 15' moves back into the interior of the casing 1' so that the operating members 7, 8 moves towards the support until the gripper feet 8a touch the support. These feet again cooperate with a cutter blade 28 in the manner described for knife 40 in FIGS. 1-8.

In order to prevent the exertion of heavy contact pressure by the gripper feet 8a upon the support, the gripping and cutting elements 8 can be pivoted in slots 21 of the disk 7 about pivot pins'22' into a withdrawn position in the disk. The pivotpins 22' are mounted in grooves 23' arranged transversely to the slots 21' on the top side of the disk and are secured by screws 24. To limit the pivoting motion of the gripping and cutting elements in their operating position, they are provided at the top with a stop tongue 8b extending in'the same direction as thegripper feet, this tongue engaging the cutting elements 8 are each held in their operating posi-. tion by a tension spring 25', one end of the spring being anchored to a pin 26' of the element and the other end on a stud 27 of the disk 7 The strength of the tension spring is such that when the apparatus is too heavily loaded the gripping and cutting elements move back into.

their retracted position, the ends of the grippers being lifted off the textile fabric at the same time so that damage to the fabric is impossible. In the operating position of the gripping and cutting elements 8, the ends of the grippers 8a slide on the textile fabric being processed and grip all thread loops lying within their range of motion. These thread loops are slit open by the knife edges inserted in the gripping and cutting elements.

When working with the manual apparatus described in connection with FIGS. 9l2, the textile fabric to be processed is spread on a table with a soft underlay. The apparatus is moved across the textile fabric in sliding movements, corresponding to the directions of the thread loops to be slit open, under light pressure as with a flat iron. Because of the light additional loading of the apparatus by the hand holding the handle 20', the supporting ring moves back so far that the gripper ends contact the textile fabric with slight pressure. At the same time the supporting ring 15' rests against the textile fabric with a considerably greater contact pressure and thereby causes a light tensioning and fixing of the fabric in the zone surrounded by the supporting ring. This light tension of the fabric prevents the gripper ends from getting entangled in the fabric and damaging it. i

The portable apparatus of FIGS. 9l2 can also be pro-- vided with an operating member of the type designated22 in FIGS. 1-8 so that it can be used with advantage for processing or working up the edge portions of a textile fabric.

.WhatI'claim is: i V

1. A thread-cutting apparatus for a fabric sheet, comprising support means rotatable about an axis substantially' perpendicular to said sheet and in close proximity to asurface thereof, said support means being provided with a plurality of angularly spaced gripper elements adapted to engage threads of said sheet extending above said surface and a cutter member'operatively connected with each of said gripper elements, each of said cutter members having a cutting edge lying in a plane substantially parallel tosaid axis and adapted to sever threads engaged by a respective one of said gripper elements, said support means comprising a disc having a working surface in close.

proximity to the surface of said sheet, said gripper elecentric with said disc.

2. A thread-cutting apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said Working surface is provided with a plurality of singularly spaced openings, each of said gripper elements being pivotally connected to said disc at one of said openings for angular reciprocating motion into and out of said one of said openings between a first and a second operative position of said gripper elements, respectively.

3. A thread-cutting apparatus according to claim 2 wherein each of said gripper elements is bifurcated and has one limb adapted to engage threads extending from said sheet in said second operative position of said gripper elements and adapted to withdraw into a respective one of said openings in said first operative position of said gripper elements, the other limb of each of said gripper elements engaging said disc in said second operative position thereby limiting the angular displacement of said gripper elements.

4. A thread-cutting apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising a housing, a shaft journaled in said housing and secured to said disc, and drive means operatively coupled to said shaft for angular displacement thereof relative to said housing, said housing being provided with cam means and said gripper elements being provided with cam-follower means engaging said cam means for reciprocating said gripper elements between said first and said second operative positions upon a relative angular rotation of said disc and said housing.

5. A thread-cutting apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a housing, a shaft journaled in said housing and secured to said disc, and a ring resiliently connected with said housing for relative axial motion and radially spaced from said disc, said ring having a surface adapted to bear upon the surface of said sheet.

6. A thread-cutting apparatus for a continuous fabric sheet, comprising a housing extending substantially the entire Width of said sheet, a plurality of support members carried by said housing, each of said members being provided with a shaft journaled to said housing, and drive means operatively connected to said shafts and adapted to rotate the latter, said support members being arranged in a first linear array athwart said sheet and a second linear array parallel to said first array and disposed forwardly thereof, the support members of said second array being ofiset from the support members of said first array, each of said support members being provided With a plurality of angularly spaced gripper elements rotatable about the axis of a respective one of said shafts and adapted to engage threads of said sheet extending above the surface thereof, and a respective cutter member operatively coupled with each of said gripper elements and adapted to sever threads engaged thereby, said support members each comprising a disc having a Working surface in close proximity to the surface of said sheet and said gripper elements being pivotally connected to respective ones of said support members.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 244,986 Deschamps Aug. 2, 1881 1,103,838 Rehfuss et a1 July 14, 1914 2,271,529 Remington Feb. 3, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,079 Great Britain of 1881 1,983 Great Britain of 1880 129,860 Switzerland Jan. 2, 1929 

